In the coming days and weeks at Boston College, you may notice an increasing number of people hopping from ledge to ledge in front of Walsh, casually vaulting over the wall in front of Devlin on their way to class, or scaling the stairs behind Higgins. No, the admissions office didn't favor gymnasts and acrobats when selecting the incoming class; this is the result of two brothers - Matt Milano, LSOE '11, and Greg Milano, A&S '11 - bringing parkour to BC.
Though parkour is often confused for an extreme sport or simply "doing crazy flips, and stuff," it is a noncompetitive discipline shaped around a philosophic backbone, similar in this way to martial arts. "It is a philosophical, physical discipline," Matt says. However, unlike martial arts, which trains its practitioners for the fight, parkour is training for the flight - the goal of parkour is to be able to move quickly and efficiently from point A to point B using the surrounding environment to overcome obstacles. This is accomplished using a variety of techniques and movements, including running, jumping, climbing, vaulting, and rolling.
David Belle developed parkour, also known as "l'art du déplacement" or "the art of movement," with a group of friends in Lisses, France in the late 1980s. In addition to focusing on efficient movement from point to point, parkour concentrates on the ability to maintain complete control of the body in vertical and horizontal planes. Recently, parkour has become more recognizable, with the number of views on the most popular YouTube videos reaching into the millions, and appearances in blockbuster hits like Casino Royale and commercials for Mazda, Canon, and Sony, among others. Still, the mention of "parkour" draws blank looks from most BC students.
The Milano brothers, like most other discoverers of parkour, were introduced to the art form on YouTube. Matt, a diver in high school, stumbled upon parkour while searching for video tutorials about flipping on flat ground. After getting Greg interested, the twins began training together, mimicking the videos without any instruction from other traceurs, or practitioners of parkour. As of now, the Milanos have been practicing parkour for about two years.
Spring Break
Mark Toorock
posted 10/06/08 @ 10:29 AM EST
Great to see Parkour catching on at BC! For more information and tutorials, please see http://www.americanparkour.com. On the homepage there are articles on how to get started, remember, safety is key!